Health Care Reform: What Doctors Want

All this week, we'll be hosting mini-roundtable discussions about how health care reform could affect different groups of Americans. We kick it off this week with one of the groups who stands to be the most affected by any systematic reform: doctors themselves.

With us today are Dr. Kevin Pho, a primary care physician in Nashua, New Hampshirewho also blogs at KevinMD.com, Dr. Charles Prestigiacomo, a neurosurgeon and associate professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Dr. Tyeese Gaines Reid, who is currently in her third year as an emergency care resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.

Primary care physician in Nashua, New Hampshire and blogs at KevinMD.com

Is in favor of reform, says, “The status quo is not sustainable.”

Says that the most important reform is to have more primary care physicians, otherwise there won’t be anyone to treat the newly insured.

Believes that the major misconceptions patients have are: death panels, whether Medicare benefits will go away, loss of choice of doctors, fear that doctors won’t be able to order the tests that are needed.

Dr. Charles Prestigiacomo

Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Says that the most important reform is liability reform which is not included in bill.

He doesn't have enough information to know the long term effect of this bill on his practice or the country.

Said that lots of neurosurgery is elective.

Dr. Tyeese Gaines Reid

Emergency Medicine Resident Physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital

Is an emergency care resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven Connecticut who is currently in her third year of residency (out of 4 years).

She is just starting her career and this will affect the length of her career.

She thinks the system in place is broken. And that none of the ‘vague plans’ on the table are perfect, but something needs to be done.

Says that reform will not affect her long term earning potential, or add to her workload. As an ER doctor in training, she sees a lot of the people who ‘fall through the cracks’ because they don’t have health care they only go to ER. If anything, blanket medical insurance coverage for the population would make her life easier.

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